Creating 3D models to estimate the volume of trees using UAV, a case study of Foxtail palm

Abstract

This research aims to create 3D models to estimate the volume of trees using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), a case study of Foxtail palm. The process of surveying aerial images using UAV together with processing using the Open Drone Map to create a 3D model to estimate the volume of Foxtail palm. This research compares the volume obtained between the Open Drone Map open-source software and Agisoft Photoscan commercial software. After that, we collect the chest diameter and height of the Foxtail using the theodolite to evaluate the accuracy at Obtained from UAV and compare the results with the diameter measurement at chest height. From researching the volume of the foxtail tree, we found that the volume of the Foxtail tree obtained from the Open Drone Map open-source software compared to Agisoft Photoscan's commercial software has a difference of 0.008 cubic meters or +2.52%, which considered to be similar. Besides, when comparing the volume of Fogtail by the Open Drone Map open-source software with the theodolite, we found the percentage of difference about 0.003 cubic meters or +1.33%. Therefore, to find the volume of other tree species, the proposed method can be applied to replace the traditional tree surveying field due to the high resolution and convenience of UAV for data collection.  The use of UAV in this way has the advantage of finding volumes cut/fill in the construction site, and apply to the variety of other engineering fields.